Ferdinand I Gonzaga (26 April 1587 – 29 October 1626) was

Duke of Mantua During its Timeline of Mantua, history as independent entity, Mantua had different rulers who governed on the city and the lands of Mantua from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. From 970 to 1115, the Counts of Mantua were members of ...

and

Duke of Montferrat The marquises and dukes of Montferrat were the rulers of a territory in Piedmont south of the Po and east of Turin. The March of Montferrat was created by Berengar II of Italy in 950 during a redistribution of power in the northwest of his ki ...

from 1612 until his death.

Biography

Unknown painter - Portrait of Ferdinando Gonzaga - WGA23962

Born in

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

, he was the son of Vincenzo I and

Eleonora de' Medici Eleanor de' Medici (28 February 1567 – 9 September 1611) was a Duchess of Mantua by marriage to Vincenzo I Gonzaga. She served as regent of Mantua 1595, 1597 and 1601, when Vincenzo served in the Austrian campaign in Hungary, and in 1602, wh ...

. On 10 December 1607, he was appointed a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

Pope Paul V Pope Paul V (; ) (17 September 1552 – 28 January 1621), born Camillo Borghese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 16 May 1605 to his death, in January 1621. In 1611, he honored Galileo Galilei as a mem ...

at the age of 20. A few years after his elder brother, Duke Francesco IV, died in 1612 without male heirs, he renounced the ecclesiastical career on 16 November 1615, and succeeded his brother in both the Duchy of Mantua and the Duchy of

Montferrat Montferrat ( , ; ; , ; ) is a historical region of Piedmont, in northern Italy. It comprises roughly (and its extent has varied over time) the modern provinces of Province of Alessandria, Alessandria and Province of Asti, Asti. Montferrat ...

. In 1616, he secretly married

Camilla Faà di Bruno Camilla may refer to: People * Camilla (given name), including a list of people with the name * Queen Camilla (b. 1947), wife of Charles III, king of the Commonwealth realms Characters * Camilla (mythology), daughter of King Metabus and Casmill ...

, whom he divorced in the same year. Their son Francesco Giacinto Teodoro Giovanni Gonzaga, although accepted at court, was not made Ferdinando's heir. He died of the plague at the age of 14, during the 1630 siege of Mantua. On 16 February 1617, Ferdinando married

Caterina de' Medici Catherine de' Medici (, ; , ; 13 April 1519 – 5 January 1589) was an Italian Republic of Florence, Florentine noblewoman of the Medici family and Queen of France from 1547 to 1559 by marriage to Henry II of France, King Henry II. Sh ...

(1593–1629), the daughter of Ferdinand I,

Grand Duke of Tuscany Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor Places * Grand, Oklahoma, USA * Grand, Vosges, village and commune in France with Gallo-Roman amphitheatre * Grand County (disambiguation), se ...

. They had no children. Ferdinand Gonzaga died in 1626. His younger brother

Vincenzo II Vincenzo II Gonzaga (8 February 1594 – 25 December 1627) was Duke of Mantua and Duke of Montferrat from 1626 until his death. Vincenzo was the son of Duke Vincent I and Eleonora de' Medici and inherited the duchy upon the death of his elder ...

inherited the duchy.

Family

In 1616 he married

, they had: *

Francesco Giacinto Gonzaga Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis", is one of the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Francesco * Francesco I (disambiguation) ...

(4 December 1616 – 1630), Lord of

Bianzè Bianzè is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Vercelli in the Italian region Piedmont, about northeast of Turin and about west of Vercelli Vercelli (; ) is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Prov ...

since 1624, benefited Priest of St. Benedict Polirone.

Honours

Grand Master of the Order of the Redeemer * Order of St

Knight of Order of Malta

References

Sources

* *

Ancestry

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzaga, Ferdinando 1 1587 births 1626 deaths Ferdinando 1 Ferdinando 1 Ferdinando 1 17th-century Italian cardinals 17th-century Italian nobility Burials at the Palatine Basilica of Santa Barbara (Mantua)